Railwaymen to shunt Europa League opponents

Lech is a shade of odds on to win its UEFA Europa League third qualifying round second leg against Utrecht and one rates that offer as the pick of the midweek coupon.

Lehc are a fair price to beat Utrecht one week after their UEFA Europa League third qualifying round first leg ended goalless. It was a cautious game in which Lech fashioned the better chances, Nikola Vujadinovic going close in the first half and Nicki Nielsen almost opening the scoring off the bench late on.

Lech had the better of its UEFA Europa League third qualifying round first leg versus Utrecht from a pure statistics perspective – the Railwaymen had more attempts, more attempts on target and more corner kicks than their hosts and one thinks that they should be shorter odds to register a home victory and reach the next stage.

Seven wins and two draws from Lech’s last nine home games demonstrates that the Railwaymen are difficult to beat on their own pitch and they have the advantage of being match fit having played three Polish Ekstraklasa rounds whereas Utrecht is yet to fulfil a Dutch Eredivisie fixture. In the previous UEFA Europa League round, Utrecht failed to win at Valletta before sparing its blushes in the Netherlands.

UEFA Europa League gambles are commonplace in its early rounds and one fully expects Lech to be much shorter odds than the 1.91Bet €100 to win €19191/100Bet £100 to win £191-110Bet $100 to win $1910.91Bet HK$100 to win HK$191-1.10Bet Rp100 to win Rp1910.9100Bet RM100 to win RM191  on offer with BoyleSports and Paddy Power by the time that Thursday’s game kicks off.

It was an absolute miracle that the UEFA Europa League third qualifying round first leg between Panathinaikos and Gabala produced just one goal and it came from the penalty mark. Panathinaikos had 20 attempts, seven of which were on goal, and the Greens struck the woodwork through Robin Lod twice. Gabala was clearly second bet in Athens but the Mountain Wolves did venture forward on a sufficient number of occasions to force six corner kicks to its rival’s nine.

SunBets is quoting alluring odds of 1.95Bet €100 to win €19519/20Bet £100 to win £195-105Bet $100 to win $1950.95Bet HK$100 to win HK$195-1.05Bet Rp100 to win Rp1950.9500Bet RM100 to win RM195  about both Gabala and Panathinaikos scoring in Thursday’s UEFA Europa League third qualifying round second leg and that strikes one as something too turn to refuse. Gabala scored in each of its eight UEFA Europa League home matches last term, including against the likes of Anderlecht, Mainz and Saint-Etienne.

Panathinaikos and Gabala are locking horns for the second UEFA Europa League campaign in the last three seasons. Their last tie in 2015 was 0-0 after 90 minutes before the second leg was a 2-2 draw that favoured Gabala on away goals. A similar story would be very nice for one’s suggested bet.

Finally, it may pay to wait for bookmakers to throw up odds about Thursday’s UEFA Europa League third qualifying round second leg between Fenerbahce and Sturm having more than 10 and a half corner kicks, which is the standard corners line.

Last week’s UEFA Europa League third qualifying round first leg between Sturm and Fenerbahce in Graz was wide open, the game featuring 28 attempts, 12 of which were on target, and 16 corner kicks split 9-7 in favour for the Austrian Bundesliga team. Fenerbahce holds a 2-1 lead at the halfway point of the tie so Sturm travels to Istanbul knowing that it must score at least two goals to stay in the UEFA Europa League, therefore, another exciting match should ensue.

Tips Summary

Lech Poznan to beat FC Utrecht
Thursday 3rd August, 19:15 GMT
Odds: 1.91Bet €100 to win €19191/100Bet £100 to win £191-110Bet $100 to win $1910.91Bet HK$100 to win HK$191-1.10Bet Rp100 to win Rp1910.9100Bet RM100 to win RM191

Gabala v Panathinaikos – Both teams to score
Thursday 3rd August, 18:00 GMT
Odds: 1.95Bet €100 to win €19519/20Bet £100 to win £195-105Bet $100 to win $1950.95Bet HK$100 to win HK$195-1.05Bet Rp100 to win Rp1950.9500Bet RM100 to win RM195

Fenerrbache v Sturm Graz – Over 10.5 corners
Thursday 3rd August, 18:30 GMT
Odds: TBC